2 women decide to do something about road trash

Marlene Smith, left, and Sharon Huston look over all the trash they picked up in just a short time along Southwest 159th Court west of Ocala in this Friday April 19, 2013 file photo. The two pick up garbage in their neighborhood on a regular basis.

Alan Youngblood/Staff photographer

By Carlos E. MedinaCorrespondent

Published: Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 10:34 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 10:34 p.m.

Sharon Huston and Marlene Smith weren’t aware that today was Earth Day — the annual environmental awareness day — they just wanted to clean up their neighborhood when they decided on Friday that they would pick up the growing amount of trash along their road.

“It was really bad. It looked like people just decided to clean out their cars and throw everything out the window,” said Huston, a retired worker with the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks.

“I used to walk with my grandson years ago, and we always would take a bag with us and pick up any trash we would come across,” she said.

In recent years, her neighborhood near Dunnellon has seen an increase in people dumping trash along the roadway.

“I can’t even imagine what would lead people to do this. It’s just not something I can comprehend,” Huston said.

So, the two women set off in Smith’s golf cart and figured it would take a few trash bags to get most of the litter picked up. A dozen large trash bags later, the women were shocked at how much they had collected.

“There was a lot of fast food bags, but mostly there was beer and liquor bottles. I didn’t know that beer came in quart bottles, but now I do. There were dozens and dozens of bottles we picked up,” said Smith, who was a commercial landscaper for 17 years.

The women ended up sorting all the materials and took them to a nearby recycling center.

But they didn’t need to go through the sorting as Marion County’s 18 recycling centers now take mixed recyclables.

“It’s more convenient, people don’t have to have separate boxes at their homes,” said Elaine McClain, Marion County spokeswoman.

The county also runs an Adopt-A-Road program that allows organizations to adopt a 2-mile stretch of road and keep it clean for two years. The county provides trash bags and other equipment for the organizations.

There currently are 42 organizations that have adopted 84 miles of roads in the county. The organizations are expected to clean at least four times a year, and average about five bags of trash per cleanup, McClain said.

Smith and Huston estimate that the road they cleaned was nearly 2 miles long, and what equipment they didn’t have, they made.

“Marlene’s friend made us a couple of those poke sticks with the point on top to stab trash,” Huston said.

While Earth Day is officially today, Huston said one day is not nearly enough.

“We picked up the trash on April 7, and left it looking really nice. As soon as we left, they started throwing things out. It’s pretty bad again,” she said Thursday, before they went out Friday morning to pick up more trash.

<p>Sharon Huston and Marlene Smith weren't aware that today was Earth Day — the annual environmental awareness day — they just wanted to clean up their neighborhood when they decided on Friday that they would pick up the growing amount of trash along their road.</p><p>“It was really bad. It looked like people just decided to clean out their cars and throw everything out the window,” said Huston, a retired worker with the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks.</p><p>“I used to walk with my grandson years ago, and we always would take a bag with us and pick up any trash we would come across,” she said.</p><p>In recent years, her neighborhood near Dunnellon has seen an increase in people dumping trash along the roadway.</p><p>“I can't even imagine what would lead people to do this. It's just not something I can comprehend,” Huston said.</p><p>So, the two women set off in Smith's golf cart and figured it would take a few trash bags to get most of the litter picked up. A dozen large trash bags later, the women were shocked at how much they had collected.</p><p>“There was a lot of fast food bags, but mostly there was beer and liquor bottles. I didn't know that beer came in quart bottles, but now I do. There were dozens and dozens of bottles we picked up,” said Smith, who was a commercial landscaper for 17 years.</p><p>The women ended up sorting all the materials and took them to a nearby recycling center.</p><p>But they didn't need to go through the sorting as Marion County's 18 recycling centers now take mixed recyclables.</p><p>“It's more convenient, people don't have to have separate boxes at their homes,” said Elaine McClain, Marion County spokeswoman.</p><p>The county also runs an Adopt-A-Road program that allows organizations to adopt a 2-mile stretch of road and keep it clean for two years. The county provides trash bags and other equipment for the organizations.</p><p>There currently are 42 organizations that have adopted 84 miles of roads in the county. The organizations are expected to clean at least four times a year, and average about five bags of trash per cleanup, McClain said.</p><p>Smith and Huston estimate that the road they cleaned was nearly 2 miles long, and what equipment they didn't have, they made.</p><p>“Marlene's friend made us a couple of those poke sticks with the point on top to stab trash,” Huston said.</p><p>While Earth Day is officially today, Huston said one day is not nearly enough.</p><p>“We picked up the trash on April 7, and left it looking really nice. As soon as we left, they started throwing things out. It's pretty bad again,” she said Thursday, before they went out Friday morning to pick up more trash.</p>